Argument or just pay bill?

JPW125

Hi, hoping for some advice/help. We have a private domestic lpg tank approx 1100 litre capacity. We have a contract with Calor to supply the gas, however that expires at the end of this month, and they have been trying to tempt us to sign another contract, as have other suppliers.
Our contract arrangement is that when the tank gets down to 20% they come and fill it. However they came and filled it yesterday whilst I was out at work, and when the tank was a shade over 50% still full.
As far as I am concerned, this was done calculatingly since they were worried we would not renew our contract with them, so they filled the tank to be able to send us another bill before the current contract runs out. In the current climate, with trying to conserve as much energy as possible, we were expecting that remaining 50% of the tank to last well into the new year, and accordingly have simply not budgeted for what will be around an additional £400 bill.
Do I have any argument against Calor for what I see as an underhand business tactic, or do I have to just stump up?

crazyguy

thats a bit slippery of them I would tell them that I am not happy and as long as you are not planning on moving then see if you can get a discount on it, just say that as per the contract it states at 20% for a refill and they have taken the mick in refilling at 50% its worth ago even if you get a small saving, every little helps.

[Deleted User]

JPW125 wrote: »

Hi, hoping for some advice/help. We have a private domestic lpg tank approx 1100 litre capacity. We have a contract with Calor to supply the gas, however that expires at the end of this month, and they have been trying to tempt us to sign another contract, as have other suppliers.
Our contract arrangement is that when the tank gets down to 20% they come and fill it. However they came and filled it yesterday whilst I was out at work, and when the tank was a shade over 50% still full.
As far as I am concerned, this was done calculatingly since they were worried we would not renew our contract with them, so they filled the tank to be able to send us another bill before the current contract runs out. In the current climate, with trying to conserve as much energy as possible, we were expecting that remaining 50% of the tank to last well into the new year, and accordingly have simply not budgeted for what will be around an additional £400 bill.
Do I have any argument against Calor for what I see as an underhand business tactic, or do I have to just stump up?

Calor can and will fill your tank anytime they like even if you have telemetry. I've had this discussion with them before about how topups work and it is likely they were just getting customers topped up prior to the onset of winter.

Can I ask what price did you pay in ppl? Perhaps ask for a discount in the circumstances? In my experience Calor's customer service is excellent so worth having a nice chat with them...

In an ideal world what you should have done is suspend topups by phone and in writing well in advance of the contract expiring.

It's not like oil where you order a fill when running low. I treated Calor LPG like mains gas i.e. you just use the gas and they keep it topped up as part of the contract...

For example, my bulk tank currently has topups suspended even though the contract does not expire until August next year. This was communicated to them by phone and 'signed for' delivery with a copy stuck to the tank and my own padlock. Not taking any chances as we are trying to run the tank down on the hob [which is taking forever - used 5% since begining of this year] now we have an alternative CH system.

JPW125

Thanks for that Jeepjunkie, very informative. I am yet to find out what the ppl is...i was left with a statement of how many litres they topped up and should get an invoice in the post in the next few days. They are offering the next contract at 51.9 ppl so will see how this top up compares.

[Deleted User]

JPW125 wrote: »

Thanks for that Jeepjunkie, very informative. I am yet to find out what the ppl is...i was left with a statement of how many litres they topped up and should get an invoice in the post in the next few days. They are offering the next contract at 51.9 ppl so will see how this top up compares.

It was just out of interest I asked what the PPL was. Last Aug we initially paid 37.5ppl which as you can imagine increased every few months to what ever it is now. Seems to be getting very expensive now...

If it were me I'd call them right now...

All the best and hope you get a discount

HateLPG

JPW125 wrote: »

They are offering the next contract at 51.9 ppl so will see how this top up compares.

Unless you are a particularly low user (< 1500l per year), and I would guess not, I would think that 51.9ppl is way on the steep side. Especially for a "tempting" contract renewal price. If they won't budge on that, shop around. The general concensus in the Bulk LPG - Cheapest suppliers / supply route MSE forum thread is that the best and fairest deals tend to be offered by the smaller, independent companies. There is also quite a lot of discussion that will give you a pretty clear idea of which suppliers are perhaps "best avoided"!

Personally, with prices as they stand, I would not currently sign a new contract for anything much in excess of 45ppl without a lot of arm twisting, and some very firm commitments on future price increases (over and above anything stated on a standard contract).

For what it's worth, and simply as background information, wholesale LPG prices are pretty volatile, and reached a high of about 37ppl in January 2011. Since then they have fallen erratically back to about 28ppl, but retail prices have not really fallen back at all, surprise, surprise. And one major supplier (NOT Calor) has even seen fit to impose no less than three sharp across-the-board price rises (totalling more than 20ppl) since January 2011!

LittleVermin

JPW125 wrote: »

Thanks for that Jeepjunkie, very informative. I am yet to find out what the ppl is...i was left with a statement of how many litres they topped up and should get an invoice in the post in the next few days. They are offering the next contract at 51.9 ppl so will see how this top up compares.

Have I really got that right? Calor fills THEN tells you the price per litre? Don't they send out letters/emails when the price rises (it very, very rarely - if ever - falls!).

You might want to talk to Trading Standards to see if this is legal.

Extra Gas - http://www.extrafuel.co.uk - posts its price each month. November's price is 47.22ppl. The price goes UP and DOWN depending on the price the company pays for its wholesale supply. So your 'new' price of 51.9ppl is hardly an inducement! Carver Gases - a small supplier in the Midlands - also posts prices - http://www.carvergases.co.uk/ - theirs is 49.2ppl.

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